The Stamellatou Brothers
This biography is part of a collection from "Life in Australia" :
If there are any business establishments that do honour to the Greek name abroad, then amongst the first of these we must surely place the shop belonging to the Stamellatou brothers. It is housed in the building that belongs to them, a building worth many thousands of pounds sterling, since it stands on the most important and central street Sydney. Leaving that aside, however, the interior decoration of the establishment renders it truly imperial. The money required for this shop certainly exceeds the budget of a Municipality in Greece and is the reason why it is the most profitable of all establishments through New South Wales.
The three owners and managers are the brothers Evstathios, Nikolaos and Markow Stamellatou, sons of Spyridon Stamellatou, hailing from Ithaca. What, however, sets them apart is their unity, their love and particularly the paternal behaviour they display towards the many members of their staff.
The brothers are renowned for their hospitality and for the fact that they have never clashed with anybody. Charming in their manners, gentle, men born for work and to progress in life, they have always been distinguished by their love of country. They are always the first to contribute to any cause that is philanthropic or of benefit to the community.
The Greeks of New South Wales have always held the most respectful of opinions of the Stamellatou brothers and have always gazed on them with respect and love.
All of them married Greek women and their dream is to settle for good in Greece. Their trade name is one well-known to all in Sydney, Stamell Bros.
This biography is part of a collection from "Life in Australia" published in 1916 by John Comino. It is an important book as it was one of the first Greek books published in Australia for the Greeks back in the homeland. If they needed any more convincing of the golden opportunities awaiting them in Australia, it probably helped create interest amongst young Kytherians and other Greeks. Each of the men portrayed in the book paid for the honour, which, considering their reputation for thriftiness, must have made the decision a hard one for many a Kytherian.
The Kythera-Family.net team, with the support of the Nicolaus Aroney Trust and other generous sponsors, has undertaken to transcribe the entire book for the website and to translate it into English for the non-greek-speaking diaspora community. We hope to also produce a printed version of the translation of Life in Australia sometime in 2005.
For valuable information about the historical background of the publication of Life in Australia, please read the entry by Hugh Gilchrist I ZOI EN AFSTRALLIA in the History, General History section.
